Tesi sul tema "Water resources development – Environmental aspects – China"

Includes bibliographical references.
The purpose of this dissertation is to assess and evaluate various water level management options for the upgrading of Olushandja Dam in northern Namibia within the framework of the environmental impact assessment carried out for the project. This will enable the Namibian Department of Water Affairs (DWA) to improve their management of the dam for the benefit of the local communities and consumers in the Oshana Water Region (Figure 5 . 1). The dam has been in existence since 1975 and is part of the Calueque-Olushandja inter-basin water transfer scheme. A pipeline and a series of canals links Calueque Dam , on the Cunene River in Angola , with Olushandja Dam in Namibia and the urban areas to the east and south. In order to provide for the expected increase in water requirements from agricultural and rural development the scheme is presently being upgraded. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) was initiated in 1994 by the DWA as a requirement of the Dutch Government who are funding the project. Biophysical studies were undertaken by staff from the DWA and private consultants from Windhoek. The socio-economic study was carried out by a study team from the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, in association with a consultant from the University's Environmental Evaluation Unit (EEU). The EEU was appointed to compile a full EIA based on the findings of the specialist reports. This report is expected to be completed by October 1995.

Includes bibliography.
The Olushandja dam is located in the northern part of Namibia, in the Omusati region - one of the four regions into which the former Ovamboland was divided after independence. The Olushandja dam is part of a two-dam supply system comprising the Calueque dam, on the Cunene river in Angola and the Olushandja dam in Namibia. Construction on Olushandja dam was completed in 1975. It acts as a storage and balancing dam for water supplied from Calueque. Olushandja dam is 17, 7kms long and about 300m wide. For the last 20 years it has been managed at 30% as this is the capacity at which evaporation balances injection of water into the dam and seepage. As part of a plan to upgrade the pumping facilities at Calueque and Olushandja dams, upgrading at Olushandja was initiated early in 1995, and involved repairing the north wall pump station and pumps, and the repair of the sluice gates at the south wall. Upgrading of the Calueque facilities is envisaged for 1996. With upgrading virtually complete at Olushandja, the UCT team were commissioned to conduct a SIA on the effect of changing the water level in the dam on the rural communities living in the vicinity of the dam. The SIA forms part of a full EIA looking at the overall environmental effect of changing the water level at which the dam is currently managed. The impact of the SIA will therefore be in terms of management rather than construction.

Water management is a challenge in the Middle East today because of increasing population, decreasing water quality, political instability and security concerns. Israel and the Palestinian Authority share the three major freshwater sources in an inequitable and unsustainable manner. This study details the hydro-geological, political, cultural and legal challenges to equitable and sustainable water resource management in the region.

The basic theme of this study is that determination of the economic value of water resources is a necessary condition for rational decision-making and management of these environmental assets, and their associated public goods, in developing countries. The research particularly evaluates the contingent valuation (CV) method as a technique for evaluating increments and decrements in environmental and natural resource service flows, and estimates households' evaluations for improvements in river water quality and connections to piped water supply for domestic uses. The study objectives were to (a) estimate the economic value of piped water supply and improved water quality in the Nzoia River Basin, Kenya, (b) evaluate the feasibility of using the CV technique to value an environmental amenity and its related quasi-public service in rural settings where respondents have limited education and monetary resources, (c) examine the role of temporal dimensions of bid payments (i e, frequency of payments) in contingent values for environmental commodities, (d) empirically investigate embedding effect bias in contingent valuation of improvements in river water quality improvement in a less developed economy, and (e) evaluate the role of water connection charges in households' willingness to hook onto piped water supply in Webuye Division, Kenya. Empirical analysis and estimates of the non-market value which local people assign to water quality in the Nzoia River and a private household water connection is based on a detailed survey of a representative sample of 311 households in Webuye Division of Bungoma District, Kenya. In an on-site survey carried out in May through September 1995, contingent markets were developed for the two goods, (1) improved river water quality, and, (2) provision of a private connection to water supply. The corresponding willingness to pay (WTP) values are explained using Ordinary Least Square regression models. Whatever the good, the WTP is seen to increase with income. However, the effects of other factors are more specific to the contingent good. In order of strength, the other determinants of WTP "quality" are sex, age, household ranking of status of domestic water source, distance from river to household residence, the other factors affecting WTP "connections" are existing source of water supply, household size, ranking of river water quality, and age of household head. On the whole, residents accepted the exercise of contingent valuation and were willing to pay important amounts (Ksh 459 and Ksh 386 on average per household per year, respectively, for goods 1 and 2). Discussion issues include policy significance of the resulting WTPs in terms of the demand for river pollution control and individual household water connections, the effect of the goods upon the CV evaluation process, the "Third World" impacts of frequency of payments in contingent valuation, including perceived-frequency and income-smoothing routes, the embedding effect in WTP values for water pollution abatement in the Nzoia River basin, the importance of pricing influences, specially payment profiles for initial connection charges, on household decisions to connect to piped water systems, and limitations of the study.

This thesis is an inquiry regarding the interconnections between water scarcity, geopolitics, resource management, and the strategies for developing effective ways to resolve conflict and encourage sustainable water resource use in developing countries. The ecological services of trans-boundary rivers are explored in conjunction with the potential impacts to freshwater availability due to economic modernization, water resource development, and decision making regimes that determine how water is allocated among competing users. Anthropogenic stressors that induce water scarcity and the geopolitical mechanisms of conflict are studied. A discourse on the creation and functional extent of global and localized water ethics is investigated, emphasizing the importance of perceptual dispositions of water users in understanding the value of trans-boundary river basins.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2004.
"A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Western Sydney, Sydney, January 2004." Includes bibliography : leaves 359 - 369.

CAPES
As Estações de Tratamento de Esgoto (ETEs), são utilizadas com o objetivo de simular os fenômenos naturais de degradação em condições controladas para promover o tratamento dos esgotos, durante este processo, ocorre à produção de um subproduto denominado lodo de esgoto, constituído basicamente por uma mistura de matéria orgânica e inorgânica, que durante o processo de tratamento do esgoto permanece acumulada no sistema. As características do esgoto e do lodo estão relacionadas com as atividades antrópicas, condições climáticas, avanços tecnológicos que também contribuem com a inserção de compostos de difícil degradação, raramente tratados e removidos por processos convencionais. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar as características do esgoto e do lodo gerado em dois sistemas convencionais aplicados no tratamento do esgoto, estimar a eficiência dos sistemas e indicar o melhor potencial uso agrícola do lodo produzido. Para isso, foram determinados no afluente e efluente dos sistemas de tratamento biológico os parâmetros físico-químicos (pH, temperatura, oxigênio dissolvido, sólidos totais, sólidos totais fixos, sólidos totais voláteis, sólidos sedimentáveis, Demanda Química de Oxigênio (DQO), nitrogênio amoniacal). No lodo foram determinados parâmetros físico-químicos (pH, fósforo, potássio, íons metálicos, sólidos totais, sólidos totais fixos, sólidos totais voláteis, umidade, matéria orgânica e carbono orgânico total) e biológicos (coliformes termotolerantes, E. coli, Salmonella sp.). Os isolados de E. coli e Salmonella sp. foram submetidos a testes de susceptibilidade a agentes antimicrobianos. Os resultados indicaram que os esgotos avaliados apresentaram pH próximos à neutralidade e temperaturas ótimas para as atividades bacterianas. Ao comparar os sistemas de tratamento, a ETE operada com lagoas foi mais eficiente na conversão de nitrogênio amoniacal, sólidos e menor eficiência na redução da DQO. Todos os parâmetros avaliados no esgoto, apresentaram concentrações inferiores aos limites estabelecidos na legislação, exceto o nitrogênio amoniacal, e em determinadas amostragens a DQO e o OD. Em relação ao lodo, este apresentou pH próximos à neutralidade, a concentração de fósforo, potássio e matéria orgânica no lodo do sistema operado com RALF foi superior a do sistema operado com lagoas. Às concentrações dos íons metálicos no lodo do RALF foram superiores às do lodo do leito de secagem, nas lagoas essas concentrações reduziram durante o processo de tratamento. Ao comparar as ETEs, às concentrações dos íons metálicos foram maiores no lodo do RALF, exceto Mn e Ni, e a concentração de Fe foi semelhante entre os sistemas. No lodo do RALF, do leito de secagem e das lagoas foram detectadas colônias de Salmonella sp. resistentes à amoxicilina (10µg), tetraciclina (30µg) e cefalotina (30µg). As colônias de E. coli, foram sensíveis apenas à gentamicina. Este estudo possibilitou avaliar a eficiência destes sistemas convencionais de tratamento de esgotos, os resultados evidenciam a necessidade de utilizar métodos adequados de tratamento que possibilitem a remoção desses antibióticos e inativação dos microrganismos patogênicos, pois indicam um potencial risco das ETEs na dispersão desses no ambiente.
The Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) are used in order to simulate the natural degradation phenomena using controlled conditions to promote sewage treatment, a byproduct called sewage sludge is produced during this process, this is one blend of organic and inorganic material, it was accumulated in the system during the sewage treatment process. The sewage and sludge characteristics are related to human activities, weather conditions. Technological advances can contribute to the insertion of some compounds that are difficult to degrade, rarely treated and removed by conventional methods. This research aims to evaluate the sewage and sludge characteristics, estimating the efficiency of two conventional treatment systems and verify the agricultural potential use of sludge produced. For this, were determined in the influent and effluent of the biological systems of wastewater treatment some physico-chemical parameters (pH, temperature, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), total solids, total fixed solids, total volatile solids, settleable solids, chemistry oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen). In the sludge were determined physico-chemical parameters (pH, total solids, total fixed solids, total volatile solids, total phosphorus, total K, metals, humidity, organic matter and total organic carbon) and biological (CTT, E. coli, Salmonella sp.). The isolates of E. coli and Salmonella sp. were tested to antimicrobial agents. The results indicated the pH in sewage was near to neutrality and optimum temperatures for bacterial activities. By comparing the treatment systems, the WWTP operated with ponds was more efficient in ammonia nitrogen conversion, removing solids and less efficient in reducing COD. All results were below the limits established by law, except ammonia nitrogen and in some samples the DO and COD. The pH in sludge was slightly acid and near neutrality. The concentration of phosphorus, potassium and organic material in the sludge collected in the system operated with RALF exceeded the system operated with ponds. The concentrations of metal ions in sludge of RALF were higher than those of the sludge drying bed, in ponds the concentrations decreased during the treatment process, to compare the WWTPs, the concentrations of metal ions were higher in RALF sludge, except Mn and Ni, and the Fe concentration was similar. In the sludge of RALF, in the drying bed and ponds were detected Salmonella sp. resistant to amoxicillin (10µg), tetracycline (30µg) and cephalothin (30µg). The E. coli were susceptible only to gentamicin. This study evaluated the efficiency of these conventional systems applied in sewage treatment, the results suggest the need to use appropriate methods of treatment to removal of these antibiotics and inactivation the pathogenic microorganisms, this indicate a potential hazard of these WWTPs in the dispersion of the environment.

The effects of climate and environmental change are likely to exacerbate water stress in Africa over the next five decades. It appears obvious, therefore, that large river basins with considerable total renewable water resources will play a prominent role in regional cooperation to alleviate the pressure of water scarcity within Africa. However, managing water resources in the large river basins of Africa involves problems of data paucity, lack of technical resources and the sheer scale of the problem. These river basins are located in regions that are characterized by poverty, low levels of economic development and little food security. The rivers provide multiple goods and services that include hydro-power, water supply, fisheries, agriculture, transportation, and maintenance of aquatic ecosystems. Sustainable water resources management is a critical issue, but there is almost always insufficient data available to formulate adequate management strategies. These basins therefore represent some of the best test cases for the practical application of the science associated with the Predictions in Ungauged Basins (PUB). The thesis presents the results of a process-based hydrological modelling study in the Congo Basin. One of the primary objectives of this study was to establish a hydrological model for the whole Congo Basin, using available historical data. The secondary objective of the study was to use the model and assess the impacts of future environmental change on water resources of the Congo Basin. Given the lack of adequate data on the basin physical characteristics, the preliminary work consisted of assessing available global datasets and building a database of the basin physical characteristics. The database was used for both assessing relationships of similarities between features of physiographic settings in the basin (Chapters 3 and 4), and establishing models that adequately represent the basin hydrology (Chapters 5, 6, and 7). The representative model of the Congo Basin hydrology was then used to assess the impacts of future environmental changes on water resources availability of the Congo Basin (Chapter 8). Through assessment of the physical characteristics of the basin, relationships of similarities were used to determine homogenous regions with regard to rainfall variability, physiographic settings, and hydrological responses. The first observation that comes from this study is that these three categories of regional groups of homogenous characteristics are sensible with regards to their geographical settings, but the overlap and apparent relationships between them are weak. An explanation of this observation is that there are insufficient data, particularly associated with defining sub-surface processes, and it is possible that additional data would have assisted in the discrimination of more homogenous groups and better links between the different datasets. The model application in this study consisted of two phases: model calibration, using a manual approach, and the application of a physically-based a priori parameter estimation approach. While the first approach was designed to assess the general applicability of the model and identify major errors with regard to input data and model structure, the second approach aimed to establish an understanding of the processes and identify useful relationships between the model parameters and the variations in real hydrological processes. The second approach was also designed to quantify the sensitivity of the model outputs to the parameters of the model and to encompass information sharing between the basin physical characteristics and quantifying the parameters of the model. Collectively, the study’s findings show that these two approaches work well and are appropriate to represent the real hydrological processes of Congo Basin. The secondary objective of this study was achieved by forcing the hydrological model developed for the Congo Basin with downscaled Global Climate Model (GCMs) data in order to assess scenarios of change and future possible impacts on water resources availability within the basin. The results provide useful lessons in terms of basin-wide adaptation measures to future climates. The lessons suggest that there is a risk of developing inappropriate adaptation measures to future climate change based on large scale hydrological response, as the response at small scales shows a completely different picture from that which is based on large scale predictions. While the study has concluded that the application of the hydrological model has been successful and can be used with some degree of confidence for enhanced decision making, there remain a number of uncertainties and opportunities to improve the methods used for water resources assessment within the basin. The focus of future activities from the perspective of practical application should be on improved access to data collection to increase confidence in model predictions, on dissemination of the knowledge generated by this study, and on training in the use of the developed water resources assessment techniques.

Humans make decisions within ecosystems to enhance their well-being, but choices can lead to unintended consequences. The ecosystem services (ES) approach supports decision-making that considers all environmental goods and services. Many challenges remain in the implementation of the ES approach like how specific ES vary through space and time. We address this research problem using the Tualatin and Yamhill river basins in northwestern Oregon as a study area. Freshwater ES are quantified and mapped with the spatially-explicit ES modeling tool, Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST). In chapter II, we develop a simple urban land cover change modeling approach with selected stakeholder input. The products of this analysis are used in part to answer the question of how the freshwater ES of water yield, nutrient retention, and sediment retention will change in the future, and how their distribution potentially will change? In chapter III, these ES are modeled in InVEST using the land cover scenarios and three downscaled global climate models. The base period is 1981 to 2010 and the future period is 2036 to 2065. The models are calibrated to empirical estimates, and display different sensitivities to inputs. Water yield increases with higher rainfall but decreases with the highest temperature scenario. Nutrient export and retention estimates are positively correlated. In the Tualatin basin, more urban lands generally lead to increases in nutrient exports and retention. The effect is reversed in the Yamhill basin from much larger agricultural exports. Sediment exports and retention increase with higher winter rainfall but are negatively spatially correlated due to topographic effects. Simulation of a landscape scale installation of riparian buffers leads to decreases in exports and increases in retention. The distribution of the provision of freshwater ES remains unchanged throughout the scenarios. With few parameters in each InVEST model, all display a high degree of sensitivity. Parameterization is subject to high uncertainty even with calibrated values. We discuss the assumptions and limitations of InVEST's freshwater models. The spatially explicit nature of InVEST is its main advantage. This work coupled with other analyses in the study area can facilitate the identification of tradeoffs amongst ES leading to better ecosystem management.

Orientador: Bastiaan Philip Reydon
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia
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Resumo: No Brasil a gestão das águas avançou após a Constituição Federal de 1988 e a criação da Lei Federal 9.433 de 1997 com a Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos (PNRH). A legislação brasileira prevê a descentralização da gestão das águas em Comitês de Bacia Hidrográfica com suas Agências de Águas junto aos Conselhos de Recursos Hídricos nas escalas federal e dos Estados. Assim, a questão principal deste trabalho se refere a responder por que, apesar de haver uma legislação de águas que determina que os valores arrecadados devam ser aplicados na bacia hidrográfica sendo utilizados no financiamento de estudos, programas, projetos e obras que alterem, de modo considerado benéfico à coletividade, a qualidade, a quantidade e o regime de vazão de um corpo de água, isto não tem ocorrido seguindo as metas dos programas de investimentos acordados nos Planos de Recursos Hídricos das Bacias. Neste trabalho de pesquisa, a demonstração é de que na aplicação dos recursos financeiros os arranjos políticos-institucionais definem critérios que priorizam projetos de investimento a partir de uma maior ênfase em aspectos de eficiência econômica do que aspectos ecológicos e socioambientais previstos na legislação de águas (Lei 9.433/97 e Constituição de 1988). No primeiro capítulo é apresentado um histórico sobre o controle e regulação das estruturas da gestão das águas no mundo. É feita uma revisão teórica das escolas da economia ambiental e institucionalista com a discussão da economia ecológica sobre as políticas ambientais e seus instrumentos. E, são destacados os aspectos legais das escalas de decisão política sobre a gestão das águas no Brasil e as políticas territoriais da água que determinam ou não a justiça ecológica e socioeconômica. No segundo capítulo é proposto um estudo de casos nos comitês das bacias do PBS e do PCJ sobre as aplicações dos mecanismos jurídico-institucionais aos usos múltiplos dos corpos d¿água, o diagnóstico das bacias estudadas, as políticas e financiamentos presentes no planejamento e gestão da água e a análise das demandas. No terceiro capítulo é proposta a pesquisa nos comitês das bacias do PCJ e do PBS sobre os projetos contemplados com recursos de demanda induzida e espontânea, as prioridades nas aplicações destes recursos e quais são os beneficiários preponderantes para a gestão da água, e os critérios para distribuição dos recursos; e ainda, são avaliados os mecanismos de distribuição da gestão das águas com a análise das formas de distribuição dos recursos nas bacias a partir de aspectos ecológicos e socioambientais
Abstract: Water management in Brazil has advanced since the Federal Constitution of 1988 and the creation of Federal Law 9.433 (1997) with its National Water Resources Policy (PNRH). Brazilian legislation encourages the decentralization of water management in the Hydrographic Basin Committees and their Water Agencies together with the Water Resources Councils at the state and federal levels. Moreover, the water legislation stipulates that the income collected should be applied within the water basin and used to finance studies, programs, projects and infrastructure that change, in a manner considered beneficial to the community, the quality, quantity and flow regime of a waterbody. In this context, the main issue addressed in this research relates to why, despite these stipulations, these requirements have not been implementedin accordance with the goals of the investment programs laid out in the Water Resources Planning documents. This research demonstrates that the political-institutional arrangements define criteria that prioritize investment projects based on placing greater emphasis on aspects of economic efficiency rather than prioritizing ecological and socio-environmental factors, as stipulated in the water legislation (Law 9.433/97 and 1988 Constitution), in the allocation of financial resources. In the first chapter of this thesis a historical perspective of the control and regulation of water management structures around the world is presented. A theoretical review of the environmental and institutional economics, together with a discussion on the ecological economics related to environmental policy and its instruments, is presented. The legal aspects associated with the levels of political decision making on water management in Brazil and the regional water policies that determine whether or not there is ecological and socio-economic justice are highlighted. The second chapter proposes a case study, carried out in the basin committees of the PBS and PCJ, on the application of legal and institutional mechanisms to the multiple uses of water bodies, the diagnosis of the basins studied, the policies and financing associated with water planning and management and an analysis of the requirements. In the third chapter, research in the basin committees of the PCJ and PBS on projects carried out with resources from "induced demand" and "spontaneous demand", the priorities for the application of these resources, the evaluation of the main beneficiaries of water management and the criteria for the distribution of resources is proposed. Also, the water management distribution mechanisms are evaluated along with the criteria for the prioritization of investment projects and an analysis of the distribution of resources in the basins based on ecological and socio-environmental aspects is carried out
Doutorado
Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente
Doutor em Desenvolvimento Economico

This thesis sets out to develop a beginning of a philosophy of water by considering philosophical implications of ecological crises currently happening along the waters of the Ganges River. In my first chapter, I give a historical account of a philosophy of water. In my second chapter, I describe various natural and cultural representations of the Ganges, accounting for physical features of the river, Hindu myths and rituals involving the river, and ecological crises characterized by the pollution and damming of the river. In my third and final chapter, I look into the philosophical implications of these crises in terms of the works of the contemporary philosopher Bruno Latour.

Cities must go further and further away to find new, more costly sources of water for human consumption while industries and agriculture continue to compete for increasingly scarce water resources. This may already be seen occurring within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro where the severe drought being experienced during the past 18 months has severely depleted water supply dams. One of the main supply dams to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is situated within the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site. The potential of funding the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site with payments for ecosystem services (water) obtained for water services supplied to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipalities and agriculture in the Gamtoos River Valley will ensure financial sustainable for the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site in the long term. This ability to become financially independent and generate its own income will place the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site in a unique position within the conservation community in South Africa as only a very few protected areas are self sustaining through payment for an ecosystem service.

China has undertaken a vast engineering project: the large-scale transfer of water from the south of the country to the north, the intention being to alleviate flooding in the south and water shortages in the north. It may take up to fifty years to complete. This thesis examines the broad outline of the scheme, the planning that has gone into it, its historical and political background, and the political, social, and ecological problems that it has encountered and may be likely to cause in the future. The political context of a 'pro-technology' policy amongst today's Chinese leaders is highlighted. The Chinese study is made in the light of water-transfer schemes that have been implemented, or proposed, in other countries; and also ideas about sustainable development, policy processes, and natural resource management. Five case studies are considered: the Aral Sea (Central Asia), the Snowy Mountain Scheme (Australia), the National Hydrological Plan (Spain), the Central Arizona Project (the United States) and the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (China). They are examined as a basis for understanding policy problems and processes in water resource management, and also to make some suggestions for their resolution in the Chinese case―though finding a permanent or definitive solution lies beyond the scope of the present inquiry. The difficulties for traditional policy processes to manage uncertainty and complexity are particularly acute in the area of natural resource management. For example, climate change issues challenge present water management systems and diversion projects. Therefore, uncertainty and complexity issues, beyond the 'ideal' policy cycle, are considered, particularly in relation to climate change, but also the water diversion schemes themselves. Climate change presents a particularly important challenge to the Chinese Project.

China's Minqin Oasis once welcomed traders along the ancient Silk Road with rivers, lakes, and lush forests, yet today the region's farmland and grassland are increasingly being engulfed by the sands of the Gobi Desert. The severity of this incremental catastrophe for a declining population of 300,000 residents has brought forth a host of recent water policies to include agronomic water conservation through plastic mulch use, computerized regulation and pricing of groundwater, and water diversions from the Yellow River. This study uses a multi-disciplinary and mixed methods approach to better understand farmer perspectives on why they implement certain water and land use practices in agriculture. The world's farmers currently use the majority of the world's available freshwater and arable land. Modern agriculture and its continued intensification also lead to increases in petroleum based inputs such as agrochemicals and agricultural plastics (plasticulture). Despite the large of impact of the decisions made by the world's farmers on natural resources, little research to date has sought to better understand farmers' perceptions and decision-making processes. Plastic film mulch is a technology that has existed since the 1940's and it has been used in places such as rural China for over five decades. This technology conserves a considerable amount of irrigation water and it increases harvests, however, use of plastic for mulch causes waste disposal problems and is an expenditure of petroleum through plastic manufacturing. Without a fundamental understanding of why farmers perceive plastic mulch to be valuable to their households and communities, we may not fully grasp why its global application continues to increase year after year. Moreover, a focused study of plastic mulch use at the local level may also allow researchers and entrepreneurs to develop a suitable alternative mulch that does not consume non-renewable resources or result in detrimental plastic waste after its utility has been exhausted. This study uses household level interviews, surveys, and participant observation to better understand why Minqin County farmers in rural China continue to use plastic mulch and how it may influence their standard of living.
Graduation date: 2013

This dissertation discusses three questions of development and environmental economics. First, it assesses the impact of mineral mining on the health and wealth of households in local communities across 44 developing countries, using micro data. Secondly, it presents evidence from a randomized controlled trial on the cost-shared provision of well-water tests for arsenic. Finally, it analyzes measurement error in a satellite night light data product widely used in development research, and investigates the scope for using the data in very high spatial resolution.

This thesis examines the concept of sustainability and the implications of large-scale hydroelectric development for the sustainability of communities in the Canadian portion of the Columbia River Basin. A literature review of sustainability provides a background for discussion and a working definition of sustainability is proposed for consideration throughout the study. An overview of the Canadian experience with hydro development and its ecological, social and economic impacts provides a context within which to consider issues related to sustainability. The Columbia River Basin is the setting of a case study of sustainability and hydro development in British Columbia. The Kootenay region has been affected by extensive hydro projects since the early 1900s on the Kootenay River and most significantly by large dams built on the Columbia system as a result of the Columbia River Treaty. Communities in the Kootenays have borne a large share of the impacts of these dams. The resulting degradation of fisheries, wildlife and forests has jeopardized the integrity of the region’s resource base and its capability to enhance the quality of life of those living within the Columbia River drainage basin. Future hydroelectric planning should address the sustainability of the ecological, social and economic systems affected by this land use change and ensure that local communities are included in project decision-making. Increased awareness of the consequences of large-scale hydro projects during planning stages may enable sustainable development to occur.

D.Phil.
South African water resource management policies as well as the country's water law have been under review over the past three to four years. The Water Law Principles, which were established as part of this review process, indicate a commitment to sustainable development of water resources and the protection of an ecological "Reserve". Such policy goals highlight the limitations of conventional water quality management strategies which rely on stressor monitoring and associated regulation of pollution. The concept of an assimilative capacity is central to the conventional water quality management approach. Weaknesses inherent in basing water management on the concept of assimilative capacity are discussed. Response monitoring is proposed as a way of addressing some of the weaknesses. In fact, the inadequate use of biological indicators and techniques in monitoring and evaluating the quality of resources has been identified as a major factor responsible for the continuing decline in the health of natural resource systems. With advances in environmental monitoring over the last decade, it has become clear that biological techniques and protocols need to become part of monitoring in order to allow effective assessment and protection of aquatic resources. One way of incorporating response measures into resource assessment is through the use of toxicological assays. As an example, a toxicological assessment of the environmental risk associated with an organic pesticide (fenthion) is presented. Acute and chronic assays were conducted with a spectrum of test organisms. These toxicological response results provided an ability to predict the ecosystem response that can be expected from certain concentrations of fenthion in the environment. Theoretically, it would be possible to design a risk assessment experiment for every new anthropogenic substance. However, in terms of cost and time, it would not be practically feasible to execute such experiments. To overcome this problem, a method has been developed to derive water quality criteria for toxic substances using existing toxicological data. This provides water resource managers with a readily available set of values to guide them in decision-making. It is demonstrated how available acute and chronic toxicity data can be synthesised into acute and chronic water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life. As these criteria are intended to extend protection to ecosystems country-wide, they are very conservative by design. Although a set of numeric water quality criteria provides an important tool to water quality managers, the limitations associated with the use of these criteria must be recognised. x Limitations relate either to the design of toxicity experiments or to the use of a chemical-specific approach alone in water resource management. In order to overcome these limitations, three broad supporting technologies are proposed, namely whole effluent toxicity (WET) testing, sitespecific adjustment of water quality criteria, and in-stream biological assessments. Whole effluent testing aims at evaluating the toxic effects of an effluent on organisms. In doing so, acute and chronic toxicity testing (and thus biological responses) becomes part of effluent regulation. An effluent control programme that incorporates toxicity-based standards and compliance criteria is proposed. One of several approaches that can be used for deriving site-specific water quality criteria is the calculation of a water-effect ratio. It is demonstrated that the water-effect ratio method could result in significant adjustments to the national water quality criteria. Although more development and local testing would be required, such site-specific criteria could be in the interest of both ecosystem protection and economic development. In-stream biological assessments introduces a type of response monitoring which provides insight into the overall integrity of aquatic ecosystems. A comprehensive biomonitoring programme is designed. To adhere to the objectives of this programme, specifications have been developed for the selection of sampling sites, the selection of biological and habitat indicators, and the management of the resulting data. This programme is referred to as the River Health Programme (RHP). The ultimate aim of any monitoring programme is to provide useful data. Such data must contribute to effective decision-making. To ensure that the RHP becomes truly operational as a management information system, a step-wise procedure is proposed for linking the collected data with management actions. It is demonstrated how following of this systematic and iterative procedure would facilitate ongoing learning and improvement of the individual steps (e.g. data collection and assessment, goal setting, selection and implementation of management actions) as well as the overall procedure. As a final step, the dynamics that influence the transition of any new technology from scientific development to operational application are explored. The RHP is used as a case study and theoretical models from the field of the management of technology are used to provide valuable insights. Four key components of the RHP design are analysed, namely the (a) guiding team, (b) concepts, tools and methods, (c) infra-structural innovations and (d) communication. These key components evolved over three broad life stages of the programme, which are called the design, growth and anchoring stages.

In the Kingdom of Lesotho, large dams are currently being constructed with the sole purpose of selling water to the Republic of South Africa, in order to earn royalties and to generate electricity for Lesotho. The focus of this study was to investigate the perception of the community on the socio-environmental impacts of Metolong Dam and Reservoir in Lesotho. A qualitative research methodology was adopted and grounded theory was used in collecting data from the study area. Qualitative research techniques used were document analysis, field notes and semi-structured interviews. After conducting an audit which evaluated the accuracy of the initial Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by comparing actual to predict impacts, it was found that the perceptions of the community on the socio-economic impacts of Metolong project were: the community had poor education due to expensive school fees and their level of education did not help with dynamics on climate for they are complex and not easily to be understood, alcoholism existed due to unemployement, cultural constraints existed dominated by the patriarchal structures on the land and decision making, compensation policy was not honoured by project developers, the project brought benefits and loss of life-support resources, people are unable to grow wheat, beans and peas for their fields are taken and the community experienced loss of building sand that is not addressed. Information obtained helped the study to close the gap which appears not to have been addressed by the Government of Lesotho Department of Water Affairs Lowlands Water Supply Unit, 2008. Results of the study revealed that local villagers in the study area were happy with the project benefits, but they were discontented with the project as they were not incoporated in the management and supervision of the project. Rather, the local villagers were engaged only as labourers. The study recommends that when large dams are constructed, local villages should not be given promises that are dressed with many enticing commitments. The reason is that, communities never asked for the project, but it is set forth authoritatively as obligatory upon them. Project authorities should increase their efforts to fulfil promises made. Not only that, they should have respect, compassion, care and dedication when dealing with affected people. It is in this regard that the Local Based Project Execution and Observation Model is proposed, which will incorporate local villagers in the management steps of all large dam developments within their communities, in order to contend with environmental impacts of large dams.
Environmental Sciences
Ph. D. (Environmental Management)

The conversion of natural landscapes for human use over the past century has led to significant ecological consequences. By clearing tropical forests, intensifying agriculture and expanding urban centers, human actions have transformed local, regional and global hydrology. Urban landscapes, designed and built atop impervious surfaces, inhibit the natural infiltration of rainfall into the subsurface. Deforestation, driven by the demand for natural resources and food production, alters river flow and regional climate. These land cover changes have manifested into a number of water management challenges, from the city to the watershed scale, and motivated investment into landscape re-greening programs. This movement has prompted the need for monitoring, evaluation and prediction of the hydrological benefits of re-greening. The research presented in this dissertation assesses the contribution of different re-greening strategies to water resources management, from multiple scales. Specifically, re-greening at the city scale is investigated through the study of vegetated rooftops (green roofs) in a dense urban environment. Re-greening at the watershed scale is investigated through the study of forest regeneration on deforested and ecologically degraded land in the tropics. First, the benefits of city re-greening for urban water management are investigated through monitoring and modeling the hydrological behavior of a number of green roofs in New York City (NYC). Influence of green roof size and rainfall characteristics on a green roof’s ability to retain/ detain rainwater are explored and the ability of a soil infiltration model to predict green roof hydrology is assessed. Findings from this work present insight regarding green roof design optimization, which has utility for scientific researchers, architects, and engineers. Next, a cost effective tool is developed that can be used to evaluate green roof hydrologic performance, citywide. This tool, termed the Soil Water Apportioning Method (SWAM), generates green roof runoff and evapotranspiration based on minimally measured parameters. SWAM is validated using measured runoff from three extensive green roofs in NYC. Additional to green roofs, there is potential for SWAM to be used in the hydrologic performance evaluation of other types of green infrastructure, making SWAM a relevant tool for city planners and agencies as well as for researchers from various disciplines of study. Finally, the impact of degraded landscape re-greening is investigated using a case study of 15 watersheds in Puerto Rico that have experienced extensive reforestation. The study provides evidence of improved soil conditions following reforestation, which in effect positively impacts streamflow generation processes. Findings from this work fill a gap in knowledge regarding the hydrological benefits of forest regeneration in mesoscale watersheds and provide guidance for future investment into reforestation programs. Land cover will inevitably continue to change to meet the needs of a growing and increasingly urban population. Yet there is potential to offset some of the ecological effects – especially those on hydrology – that result from land cover change. As a whole, this dissertation aims to contribute knowledge that can be used to make the re-greening of altered landscapes more realizable.

Infrastructure systems around the world face immediate crises and smoldering long-term challenges. Consequently, system owners and managers must balance the need to repair and replace the aging and deteriorating systems already in place against the need for transformative investments in deep decarbonization, climate adaptation, and transportation that will enable long-term competitiveness. Complicating these decisions are deep uncertainties, finite resources, and competing objectives. These challenges motivate the integration of “hard” investments in physical infrastructure with “soft” instruments like insurance, land use policy, and ecosystem restoration that can improve service, shrink costs, scale up or down as future needs require, and reduce vulnerability to population loss and economic contraction. A critical advantage of soft instruments is that they enable planners to adjust, expand, or reduce them at regular intervals, unlike hard instruments which are difficult to modify once in place. As a result, soft instruments can be precisely tailored to meet near-term needs and conditions, including projections of the quasi-oscillatory, regime-like climate processes that dominate seasonal to decadal hydro-climate variability, thereby reducing the need to guess the needs and hazards of the distant future. The objective of this dissertation is to demonstrate how potentially predictable modes of structured climate variability can inform the design of soft instruments and the formulation of adaptive infrastructure system plans. Using climate information for sequential adaptation requires developing credible projections of climate variables at relevant time scales. PartI considers the drivers of river floods in large river basins, which is used throughout this dissertation as an example of a high-impact hydroclimate extreme. First, chapter 2 opens by exploring the strengths and limitations of existing methodologies, and by developing a statistical-dynamical causal chain framework within which to consider flood risk on interannual to secular time scales. Next, chapter 3 describes the physical mechanisms responsible for heavy rainfall (90th percentile exceedance)and flooding in the Lower Paraguay River Basin (LPRB), focusing on a November-February(NDJF) 2015-16 flood event that displaced over 170 000 people. This chapter shows that: 1. persistent large-scale conditions over the South American continent during NDJF 2015-16 strengthened the South American Low-Level Jet (SALLJ), bringing warm air and moisture to South East South America (SESA), and steered the jet towards the LPRB, leading to repeated heavy rainfall events and large-scale flooding; 2. while the observed El Niño event contributed to a stronger SALLJ, the Madden-JulienOscillation (MJO) and Atlantic ocean steered the jet over the LPRB; and 3. while numerical sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) and seasonal models projected an elevated risk of flooding consistent with the observed El Niño event, they had limited skill at lead times greater than two weeks, suggesting that improved representation of MJO and Atlantic teleconnections could improve regional forecast skill. Finally, chapter 4 shows how mechanistic understanding of the physical causal chain that leads to a particular hazard of interest – in this case heavy rainfall over a large area in the Ohio River Basin (ORB) – can inform future risks. Taking the GFDL coupled model, version 3 (CM3) as a representative general circulation model (GCM), this chapter shows that 1. the GCM simulates too many regional extreme precipitation (REP) events but under-simulates the occurrence of back to back REP days; 2. REP days show consistent large-scale climate anomalies leading up to the event; 3. indices describing these large-scale anomalies are well simulated by the GCM; and 4. a statistical model describing this causal chain and exploiting simulated large-scale in-dices from the GCM can be used to inform the future occurrence of REP days. Even the best climate projections must confront epistemic uncertainties. Part II of this dissertation explores how intrinsically flawed projections should inform sequential adaptation.First, chapter5reviews approaches for planning under uncertainty, considering the role of classical decision theory, optimization, probability, and non probabilistic approaches. Next, chapter 6 considers how different physical mechanisms impart predictability at different timescales and the implications of secular, low-frequency cyclical, and high-frequency cyclical variability for selection between instruments with long and short planning periods. In particular, this chapter builds from three assertions regarding the nature of climate risk: 1. different climate risk mitigation instruments have different project lifespans; 2. climate risk varies on many scales; and 3. the processes which dominate this risk over the planning period depend on the planning period itself. Defining M as the nominal design life of a structural or financial instrument and N as the length of the observational record (a proxy for total informational uncertainty), chapter 7 presents a series of stylized computational experiments to probe the implications of these premises. Key findings are that: 1. quasi-periodic and secular climate signals, with different identifiability and predictability, control future uncertainty and risk; 2. adaptation strategies need to consider how uncertainties in risk projections influence the success of decision pathways; and 3. stylized experiments reveal how bias and variance of climate risk projections influencerisk mitigation over a finite planning period. Chapter 7 elaborates these findings through a didactic case study of levee heightening in the Netherlands. Integrating a conceptual model of low-frequency variability with credible projections of sea level rise, chapter 7 uses dynamic programming to co-optimize hard (levee increase) and soft (insurance) instruments. Key findings are that 1. large but distant and uncertain changes (e.g., sea level rise) do not necessarily motivate immediate investment in structural risk protection; 2. soft adaptation strategies are robust to different model structures and assumptions while hard instruments perform poorly under conditions for which they were not de-signed; and 3. increasing the hypothetical predictability of near-term climate extremes significantly lowers long-term adaptation costs. Finally, part III seeks to unpack the conceptual experiments of parts I and II to inform policy and future research. Chapter 8 describes how constructive narratives about climate change can discourage climate fatalism. Instead, chapter 8 emphasizes that while climate change is and will be a critical stressor of infrastructure systems, individuals, communities, and regions have agency and can mitigate its consequences. Finally, chapter9concludes by discussing the key findings of this dissertation and exploring how future work on decision under uncertainty, technology, and earth systems science can aid the design and management of effective infrastructure services.

This thesis examines the historical introduction and spatial expansion of modern water supply infrastructure in Amhara region across the three successive regimes: imperial, military, and EPRDF. It attempts to explore the institutional setup of the three governments together with their policies and strategies. The study also aims at giving an idea about the socio-economic changes registered because of improved access to safe water. Furthermore, it assesses the water consumption and conservation pattern of the society and the environmental impact of the water infrastructure development. Modern infrastructure development in Ethiopia traced its beginning back to the late 19th century. Safe drinking water supply had been one of those modern infrastructures introduced in Addis Ababa. Not long afterwards, it proliferated to the provinces. In Amhara region, drinking water supply infrastructure construction began in the early 20th century. However, this thesis inquired whether there was a programmed water supply infrastructure development before the mid-1950s or not. The water supply work started gaining momentum and became a state program in the late imperial period. However, it was affected by financial, technological and trained human resource constraints, lack of appropriate institution, defective management systems, and improper implementation methods. The military government had strengthened water supply institutions and improved workers' expertise. These developments helped the water supply infrastructure work to be executed in a programmed manner. Yet, financial restraints, the incessant political chaos of the time and the accompanied disruptive working environment had greatly impacted the temporal and spatial coverage of the water supply infrastructure development. The promising start of the Derg period did not continue with similar pace during the early years of the EPRDF rule. Despite the efforts made to set up water institutions at Regional, Zonal and Woreda (district) levels, no significant achievement was recorded in the field. The aftermath of the civil war together with internal and external challenges epitomized the transition period had impinged on the water supply work. This thesis testifies to the emergence of some socio-economic changes in the region. Yet, the slow progress of the water supply infrastructure work had stalled the socio-economic change that should have been registered through improved access to safe water supply. Despite the observable environmental degradation, the thesis argues that the retarded water supply work had nothing to do with the dearth of fresh water. While the trend shows steady growth of water consumption level across the three regimes, the conservation habit of the population remained low.
D.Litt. et Phil. (History)

This study focuses on Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in the three basins of the Witwatersrand’s goldfields in the Vaal River System in South Africa. AMD has become a highly contested issue. A difference in its definition exists between two groups of role-players identified in the study: government and consultants/activists/NGOs. This study unpacks the differences in the way AMD is defined, the situation of AMD in each of the three basins and the socio-economic implications caused by AMD. A crucial finding was that these definitions determine how the issue is understood and what solutions these role-players propose. The main purpose of the study was to determine whether the South African government’s policy response was appropriate given the socio-economic impacts of AMD and imperatives of sustainable development. This study concluded that, in the policy, there was no clear indication as to what the socio-economic impacts are, and limited attention was therefore given to these impacts.
Development Studies
M.A. (Development Studies)

Botswana is a water scarce country. Rainfall is highly variable, leading to limited surface and groundwater resources. Due to persistently dry conditions most rivers found in Botswana are ephemeral. The Boteti River sub-Basin is one of the numerous ephemeral river sub-Basins, in Botswana. Key environmental challenges, resulting from human activities, in the sub-Basin are: increased pressure on local resources due to overstocking, overgrazing and over-harvesting; reductions in wildlife numbers; denudation of vegetation and the resultant exposure of the soil to wind erosion. As a major step, to pilot implementation of river basin management in the ephemeral river basins in southern Africa, the Boteti River sub-Basin is one of the key areas identified for study under the Ephemeral River Basins in the Southern African Development Community SADC (ERBSADC) Project. This study was initiated, as part of the ERB-SADC project and its aim is to investigate the socio-economic status of the Boteti River sub-Basin and determine the potential for developing integrated management of water and land resources in the sub- Basin. Its key objectives are to identify and assess types and patterns of water use; to identify and assess key livelihood activities; and to critically assess community participation in water resources management in the sub-Basin. A questionnaire was administered to 293 households, a focus group discussion was held with twelve community representatives of six villages in the sub-Basin, six traditional leaders and five local government officers were interviewed as key informants, and informal discussions were held with three local farmers. Results from the study indicate low livelihood levels based on livestock and arable agriculture, high dependence on natural resources and low participation of communities in water management. The study concludes that a livelihood approach to integrated water resources management can help deal with environmental challenges and enhance community participation.
Environmental Sciences
Thesis (M.A. (Environmental Science))

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Environmental planning is very cumbersome work for environmentalists, government agencies like USDA and NRCS, and farmers. There are a number of conflicts and issues involved in such a decision making process. This research is based on the work to provide a common platform for environmental planning called WRESTORE (Watershed Restoration using Spatio-Temporal Optimization of Resources). We have designed a system that can be used to provide the best management practices for environmental planning. A distributed system was designed to combine high performance computing power of clusters/supercomputers in running various environmental model simulations. The system is designed to be a multi-user system just like a multi-user operating system. A number of stakeholders can log-on and run environmental model simulations simultaneously, seamlessly collaborate, and make collective judgments by visualizing their landscapes. In the research, we identified challenges in running such a system and proposed various solutions. One challenge was the lack of fast optimization algorithm. In our research, several algorithms are utilized such as Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Learning Automaton (LA). However, the criticism is that LA has a slow rate of convergence and that both LA and GA have the problem of getting stuck in local optima. We tried to solve the multi-objective problems using LA in batch mode to make the learning faster and accurate. The problems where the evaluation of the fitness functions for optimization is a bottleneck, like running environmental model simulation, evaluation of a number of such models in parallel can give considerable speed-up. In the multi-objective LA, different weight pair solutions were evaluated independently. We created their parallel versions to make them practically faster in computation. Additionally, we extended the parallelism concept with the batch mode learning. Another challenge we faced was in User Modeling. There are a number of User Modeling techniques available. Selection of the best user modeling technique is a hard problem. In this research, we modeled user's preferences and search criteria using an ANN (Artificial Neural Network). Training an ANN with limited data is not always feasible. There are many situations where a simple modeling technique works better if the learning data set is small. We formulated ways to fine tune the ANN in case of limited data and also introduced the concept of Deep Learning in User Modeling for environmental planning system.

Countries and governments around the world have accepted the scientific argument on the prevalence and the possible effect of global warming and climate change on the environment, world economy and ultimately human life (Nhamo, 2011). Amongst all industrial corporations, the mining industry is the biggest environmental polluter due to its extractive nature and energy intensive operations. However because of its economic importance, it cannot be abandoned, instead it needs to find a win-win situation, where it continues to succeed but minimizes environmental damage. This thesis aims to examine the possible impact of clean technology on the sustainability of South African gold mining sector. Specifically, the study aims to determine the drivers behind the move towards clean technologies and methods, identify challenges and opportunities associated with this transition at Harmony Gold’s Kusasalethu mine. This was achieved through using Kusasalethu as a case study to which investigations of the effectiveness of clean technology and methods were carried out. The case study was multidimensional; exploring the effect of clean technology on energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission (GHG), water consumption, cyanide management and Kusasalethu’s financial performance. While the case study was largely qualitative it involved quantitative data analysis that had to be triangulated with other data sources and data gathering instruments to achieve legitimacy. This meant that the study had to adopt the mixed research methods. The instruments used included; key informant interviews, and document analysis, structured questionnaire and a set of open ended questions that served as interview guide. The qualitative data were analyzed by means of coding, descriptions, typologies, taxonomies and visual representations, whilst quantitative data were processed through Microsoft Excel to generate various forms of descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that resource consumption (energy, water, cyanide) depends on the mine design and gold output rate. Clean technology implementation at Kusasalethu helped the mine reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions. However scope 2 (indirect GHG emissions associated with energy consumption) is also determined by coal production technologies and methods used by coal mines. Although data on Kusasalethu water and cyanide management and related technologies was not available, the aggregate data for all Harmony Gold mines indicated higher annual water and cyanide consumption during 2010 and 2012. In terms of Kusasalethu’s financial performance and clean technology adaptation, acquisition of clean technologies increased capital expenditure temporarily. However, the positive effects of the clean technology transition and implementation minimized operational cost and increased operational profit greatly. Although adopting clean technologies calls for increased capital expenditure, this study reveals that this expenditure pays off in lower operation costs for the mine and the environment benefits through lower GHG emission. However, clean technologies are yet to impact significantly in lowering water and cyanide consumption levels as they do with energy consumption. The study concluded that clean technology and methods played a positive role on Kusasalethu’s environmental impact and financial performance by reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions. Though, more need to be done in terms of water and cyanide management.
Environmental Sciences
M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

This study addresses the question: "What are the incentives and disincentives for conflict prevention and mitigation in the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and how do they factor into Reclamation's management of water in the western United States?" Incentives and disincentives for conflict prevention (i.e., actions taken to avoid conflict) and mitigation (i.e., actions taken to resolve, manage, or temper a conflictive situation after conflict has occurred) are identified through a survey and focus groups of Reclamation employees. The two dominant disincentives identified are a lack of resources and Reclamation's organizational culture--specifically its reliance on crisis management, water delivery tunnel vision, and being slow to change. Other disincentives include a lack of forward planning, the existence of an acceptable bandwidth or level of conflict, a perception that conflict is unavoidable or entrenched, politics, and limits on acceptable actions associated with the legal authorization of Reclamation projects. Fewer incentives for conflict prevention and mitigation were identified, but include, pressure from higher management, the promotion of collaboration within the Bureau, and a desire to avoid litigation. The institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework offers some insight into how these incentives and disincentives factored into the implementation of the Water2025 Initiative, and Reclamation’s experience with the Middle Rio Grande silvery minnow and the Endangered Species Act. As attributes of the community and rules-in-use, incentives and disincentives such as organizational culture, politics, funding availability, the desire to avoid litigation, the promotion of collaboration within the agency, and a lack of planning effort offer possible explanations of why Reclamation chose to act as it did.
Graduation date: 2012